F2A (Second Preference Family base)- Spouses and unmarried children under 21 of Legal Permanent Resident

Need to know the timeline - I-130 Petition has been approved, NVC has requested all supporting documents and confirmed that application has been processed and completed and send to US Consulate (jhb) for request for interview date

The U.S. Embassy or Consulate General tells NVC what dates they are holding interviews, and NVC fills these appointments in a first-in, first-out manner. However, before applicants in a numerically limited (preference) visa category can receive an appointment, their priority date must also be current. You can track your priority date using the Visa Bulletin at https://usvisas.state.gov/visabulletin. NVC schedules appointments one month in advance, but we cannot predict when an interview appointment will be available.

An interview appointment letter is sent to you (the applicant), as well as your petitioner (sponsor), and your agent/attorney (if applicable) to notify you and them of the date, time, and location of the interview once the embassy has an appointment available. There may be a wait of several months for an interview date to become available.

Supporting documents are sent to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Once your interview appointment is scheduled, NVC sends the immigrant visa petition, visa application, and all related forms and documents which were submitted to NVC to the appropriate U.S. Embassy/Consulate.

If a visa is available for your petition (or if the Department of State believes that one will be available in the next several months), the NVC will send you, the beneficiary, a letter or email directing you to begin visa pre-processing with the NVC. NVC will begin pre-processing your case by asking you to first choose an agent and then submit the appropriate fees. After the appropriate fees are paid, the NVC will request that you submit the necessary immigrant visa documents, including the Affidavit of Support (AOS), application forms, civil documents, and more.

If visas are not available for your visa category, the NVC will notify you that the NVC received your petition and will hold it until a visa becomes available.

Now this is where the questions comes in:

1) anyone done their interview recently or have an idea on what the current timeline is? (between receiving confirmation that NVC is sending docs vs interview date confirmation letter)

2) Which priority date do you use on VisaBulletin (Last action date or dates for filing) - this is a Consular Processing Case and not a Adjustment of Status Case

3) Anyone traveled/ entered US on B1/B2 visa (for a short trip) while waiting for interview date back in SA? - I read on other forums that customs can be difficult about granting you entry (immigration intent)

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Last action date, if that’s table A in the visa bulletin - this is the priority date that determines if a visa is available . No idea about timeline, sorry.

i travelled to the US a few times on my B visa while I had a F3 petition underway - never had a problem or even anyone asking. I think the bigger issue is to get the visa with a petition filed, if you can do that you’re (they, whoever) probably ok, but I’d make sure to bring with proof of reasons to go back to SA just in case (letter from employer etc).

Last action date, if that’s table A in the visa bulletin - this is the priority date that determines if a visa is available . No idea about timeline, sorry.

i travelled to the US a few times on my B visa while I had a F3 petition underway - never had a problem or even anyone asking. I think the bigger issue is to get the visa with a petition filed, if you can do that you’re (they, whoever) probably ok, but I’d make sure to bring with proof of reasons to go back to SA just in case (letter from employer etc).

Thanks

Great- the person in question has a current valid B visa and will be able to show ties back to SA

It seems that Table A moves super slow. Some months the date only moves a week up. So that means that there is no difference in Adjustment of Status and Consular processing's times lines then? Thought the latter was quicker.

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Great- the person in question has a current valid B visa and will be able to show ties back to SA

It seems that Table A moves super slow. Some months the date only moves a week up. So that means that there is no difference in Adjustment of Status and Consular processing's times lines then? Thought the latter was quicker.

Hurry up and wait game

If I understand it correctly, with AOS you can send in your file before your priority date is current (using 2nd table) but no-one can actually get a visa or green card before their date is current. That doesn’t mean you get the visa or green card as soon as the date is current though, this is where the issue of processing time comes in - it can take some time after you’re current to complete the process. The difference in procsssing times depends on a bunch of factors like backlogs at uscis offices, how busy the embassy is, etc. usually the backlog is more in the USCIS offices so AOS is slower. it’s a moot point for F2A unless the person is already in the US on a work or student visa anyway.